So the last period I really thought the Rangers carried the play, for the most part, and the Canes scored the lone goal.? This period I felt the Canes carried the play for the most part, and the Rangers scored the lone goal.? Should I cheer for the Canes to control the 3rd?

Anyways, the Rangers looked flat in the second, and really were saved by the goal post, some excellent goaltending, and some poor decisions by the Canes.?

Jaromir Jagr is on fire in this game.? The guy is a beast, I havent seen him play like this in a LONG time.? Easily the first star of this one, even if the Rangers lose.

-Inferno

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Cole is the most unsportsmanlike player in the game right now. Every time he is near an enemy player, he dives. I saw it last year to the nth degree (before he was out with that injury) and i saw it again 3 friggin times including the bs penalty they called on malik (cole actually wrapped his hand around malik and took malik down). Cole should be suspended for all the crap he pulls. With that said I thought the Rangers played a pretty solid period AFTER they gave up the goal. Till then they were clearly sleepwalking. When you play against Carolina you are going to trade scoring chances, its just how they play, but you gotta convert.? The Rangers have had 4 or 5 glorious scoring chances (all but 1 were by Jagr) but have yet to convert.? I have no doubt the Rangers will get a few goals in this one, the question is how many do they keep out.

-Inferno

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Hmmm, so, maybe I should quit the whole predicting thing aye?? I couldnt have been more wrong about how the game turned out, from being down 2 goals, to turnovers, etc, I was just 110% WRONG.? LOL, and I loved every second of it.? I do have one regret though, that I wasnt at MSG to shower the MARRRRRTY chants at Brodeur my arch nemesis.

The truly amazing thing is that the goals were in such rapid succession you literally didnt have time to finish cheering for the prior one.? Heck if im not mistaken I dont think either of the final 2 goals were scored after the previous goal was announced.

Now lets also be realistic here, this was in no way shape or form a “perfect” win, much like the last Devils game, or the Sharks or Thrashers game.? There were still forced passes directly into the trap, and a HORRENDOUS goal given up by Lundqvist, but the Rangers showed the malleability that I’ve mentioned before that I would like to see a bit more.? To bend, but not break is the key.? If you turn the puck over, you better make damn sure you hustle back and get help from your forwards, which the Rangers definately got tonight.? Also of concern was Jagrs 3 horribly obvious obstruction penalties.? This has been a theme this year for Jagr and im not sure why hes doing it.? Its not like its carryover from last year, as he was pretty disciplined last year.? I wonder if its a result of him taking beatings and needing to make a statement or something, even then, those arent the penalties that make statements so im not sure if that explanation even works.?

On the plus side though the Rangers killed of every single 1 man disadvantage, and gave up only 1 goal on the PK which was a 5 on 3 attempt which was the result of a dubious call against Shanahan and a terrible judgement move by Betts.? Also the Rangers showed some resilience to the Devils counterattack, which I really liked.? The defense really played well, to a man, I cant make any complaints, and if anything this might be the first game I was truly extatic with the way Rachunek and Bozolinsh played.? They took the body, and moved the puck very well, I had to rub my eyes a few times to make sure I was seeing what I was seeing.? Honestly Rachunek has played more like I expected him to, as a solid 2nd pairing defenseman.? I think his prior sputtering was more of a result of re-learning the NHL game, which isnt as easy as its made out to be by yours truly.

Give some credit to my arch nemesis Tom Renney, his line changes and doubleshifting along with his decision to change up the PP lines worked like a charm.? The changed up PP generated some solid chances, and the doubleshifting of Jagr (not his whole line) led to the first 2 goals.? I am awfully critical of Tom in most of his personell decisions, but tonight I concede that his decisions worked out perfectly.

Lundqvists let in at least 1 bad goal in 95% of his starts this season.? Whats wrong with you Henrik?!

Rangers continue their streak of playing to the level of competition, and with a game against the defending stanley cup champions in Carolina we should expect a good effort.? BTW, the Rangers are now tied for the division lead.? Who woulda thunk it?

Rangers 3 Stars Of The Game:

1)Brendan Shanahan.? You would expect Jagr to be here but im sorry, 3 horrible penalties drops him 1.? Shanahan scored the game winner, helped killed off a plethora of penalties, and played some amazing defense in the 3rd period.? In fact his whole line was awesome.
2)Jaromir Jagr.? Would have been easily the first star if it wasnt for those terrible penalties.? Still, scoring 2 goals in less than a minute, that earns you a teenie tiny bit of leeway
3)Henrik Lundqvist.? Despite the terrible goal, he was rock solid.? I didnt notice many spectacular saves, which I think was more of a testament to how well his defenseman played in front of him.

-Inferno

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Well, as I mentioned, as long as we dont go down by 2, we should be in this.? Well, were down by 2, and Brodeur is putting on a 14 save clinic.? Lundqvist was good in this game, not including his first goal, but the 2nd one was all on the refs, and Blair Betts’ foolishness.? First off, the Shanahan play, NOT a penalty.? When a guy clips you and you go flying into the goaltender, thats an interference penalty on the defenseman.? HELLO!! hockey 101 refs.? Sheesh.? Then Blair Betts with an unforgivable delay of game penalty on a play with which he could have had a nice Frappucino before playing the puck which gave the Devils the dreaded 2 man advantage.?

BTW, Kudos to my arch-nemesis Tom Renney for starting the 2nd power play unit on the most recent PP.? The first unit wasnt doing squat, the 2nd unit got several scoring chances.? Funny things happen when you stick a bunch of guys in front of the net and start forcing the puck in there.

Period 3 should go something like this…

The Rangers and Devils play even till about the 10 minute mark, after which a defenseman or 2 try to force things which results in a neutral zone turnover leading to a 2 on 1 goal.? Then the Rangers manage to get 1, before giving up the empty netter.? Lets see how my impression of Nostradamus turns out shall we?

-Inferno

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Man oh man was that ever boring.? Seriously, I could have been more excited watching a David Arquette film (*shudders*).? Seriously though, with the exception of the horrrrrrible goal that Henrik gave up (no excuses on that one folks) and the 2 bad penalties by Jagr (both were legit) I thought the Rangers paid a patient (read boring) game out there, and didnt really give up too many chances.? Equally the Devils only gave up 2 real good chances, both of them shot wide by the Rangers.

The Rangers just gotta make sure they dont go down two.? Going down by two against the Devils is a kiss of death.

Btw, did anyone else notice Rachunek just destroy Brylin?? Man, where did that come from, and can? I get? a supersized? order every game??

-Inferno

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Its hard to fault the Rangers for the 2nd and 3rd periods.? Really they played damn good in that time, basically owning the play, but a stonewall effort by Olaf Kolzig led to yet another loss to a mediocre team.? The first period was of concern, but Henrik saved them after only giving up a single goal.? But he did repay the effort by giving up 2 softies in the 3rd, particularly Ovechkins goal which was a rather easy shot to save.?

But again, Olie was the story in this one stopping at least 21 shots (I think that was the final total) in the 3rd period, a dozen of which I would categorize as the spectacular variety.? The Rangers could have had this, actually SHOULD have had this, as they were just robbed by Kolzig.? Still though, when you dig yourself a hole, you have nobody to blame but yourself.

Uncharacteristically I dont plan to vilify the team tonight.? Frankly, its been a long week, a tough week, and they were due for a clunker.? Lets just hope they show up against the Devils, the team I absolutely ABHOR with every fiber of my being.? Also, lets not forget the refs absolutely hosed the Rangers tonight, letting the Caps get away with murder.? If you guys know me, I call it as I see it, even if the reffing benefits us.? So if you didnt catch the game, take it from me, it was very 1-sided.

So lets move on, forget about this one, and start another unbeaten streak Tuesday.

Rangers 3 Stars Of The Game:

1)Brendan Shanahan.? Had an assist, and could have easily had a goal and another assist.
2)Fedor Tyutin.? Thought he played spectacularly, not giving an inch, and playing sound defense in his own zone.
3)Henrik Lundqvist.? Hard to call a guy who gave up 2 softies a 3rd star, but if it werent for him, this would have been a blow out after the first period.

Final Score: Caps 3, Rangers 1?

-Inferno

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That was a bit better, but I think it had more to do with the calls evening out than anything else.? After giving the capitals the first 6 calls in this game, the refs decided their hosejob of the Rangers had gone on long enough and decided to even the calls out a bit, but not even close to my liking.? still the penalty minutes are overwhelmingly against the Rangers at a total of 17 minutes to 9 minutes for the Caps (counting the offsetting fighting majors).? The refs missed a blatant flying clothesline against Petr Prucha.? The refs were staring right at it and said nothing, even the Washington announcers were surprised nothing was called.? That would have put the Caps down 2 men with about 55 seconds to go on the Brashear penalty.

Still though, the energy and effort level was much higher in this one, and it was nice to see Renney try something new on the PP, putting Jagr with the Cullen and Prucha group to try to increase the pressure.

The shots on goal also evened out a bit more, as the Rangers outshot the Caps by 10 in the second to close the gap there to 23-21.

Henrik continues to play outstanding as he has simply been unbelievable.? The Rangers, if they manage to get a point or 2 out of this one, should buy Henrik a car or something, hes saving their collective butts.

-Inferno

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Yuck, I think a dinner of rotting roadkill would have left a better taste in my mouth than watching the first period against the Capitals.? As I warned and warned, the Rangers did just what I expected them to do.? Play down to the level of their opponent.? They played so flat even a mento couldnt rile them up.?

The unbalanced officiating isnt helping either.? Decidedly one sided after what I felt was a strong stretch dating back to the game against the ‘Yotes where it was either even, or favoring us.? Playing down a man for nearly half the period, the Rangers were on their heels and could get NOTHING done.? The Capitals feed which I get did not show a single replay of any of the infractions, leading me to believe they were either nonexistant, or so minor they werent worthy of a call.?

Really if not for some insanely spectacular goaltending by Henrik Lundqvist, the Rangers could be down by as many as 6 goals in the first period.

-Inferno

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Well, a full 60 minute effort was displayed by the Rangers, and surprise surprise, they won.? Which, by the way, was the exact result of the only other full 60 minute efforts I can remember this team playing (against the Sharks, and against the Devils).? There is a lot to be happy about in this one, as the Rangers have not gotten 9 out of a possible 10 points in their last 5 games coming against teams who have a combined 121 points (~24 points each), and have now improved to a sparkling 7-2-0 on the road this year.? I think we can now safely say there are 2 significant trends that we can point to.?

1)The Rangers play to the level of their opponent.? When they play teams with more losses than wins,IE? the Flyers,? Panthers, Coyotes, and Kings their record is a measley 3-3, however when they play against teams with winning records, IE the Caps, Pens, Sabres, Leafs,? Devils, Predators, Ducks, Sharks, and Thrashers they are now 6-3-1, and more importantly 4-0-1 in their past 5 games against such teams.

2)When Renney is allowed the final change, he overthinks things and causes his team to overplay their top lines.? This is, I believe, an important fact about how the Rangers have played so well on the road, and so poorly at home.? When hes on the road, Renney more or less just runs all 4 lines out there, but when he is at home, he can put jagr on just about any time, and it is costing his team.? Obviously another reason they play so damn well on the road is because so far, their road teams have been elite level teams.

Colton Orr can play. Period, end of story.? The kid can, and should play regular 4th line minutes.? Ive been screaming about it for over a year now, and I think Renney has finally found my blog (he cant be happy about all my fire Renney remarks aye?).? Colton Orr brings a level of intimidation, and physicality this team really needs, particularly with Kaspar being a complete and utter bust so far this year.? Also the kid has enough smarts to not be a detriment when he is on the ice, and knows when to be agressive, and when to back off, when to fight, and when not to fight.? I dont think he gets nearly enough credit for his smarts, and I think that is what is going to make him an everyday 4th liner.? Good teams have enforcers who can play regular 4th line minutes, at least I feel so.?

Not much else to say about this one.

Rangers 3 Stars Of The Game:

1)Kari Lehtonen.? Lets be serious here folks, Lehtonen was AWFUL out there, directly responsible for 2 goals , and was shaky on just about every shot.
2)Jaromir Jagr.? Was dominant from the opening tip.? Controlled the play, and found the open men.
3)Michael Nylander.? The most opportunisitic 2 goals I have ever seen scored.

-Inferno

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I’ll give the Rangers one thing, they are keeping it entertaining.? Really in a game where the best player for the Rangers has been Kari Lehtonen, the Rangers have been pretty sharp.? The one exception really being Hollwegs penalty, followed by a hook on Hall.? Those 2 penalties really hurt, and had it not been for that I think the Rangers would still be up 4-1, but as it stands now it is 4-2.? The Rangers blew a 2 goal lead against the Sabres 2 games ago only to lose in OT.? Proof positive that no lead is safe, particularly against high powered offensive teams.? Henrik Lundqvist is playing about the deepest in net I have ever seen, its like the guy has lost all confidence in his defenseman to keep guys out of his crease, protect the slam dunk, etc.? Its a shame because its costing him some big juicy rebounds.?

My God does Ilya Kovalchuk have a shot or what.? Thats gotta be the hardest 1-timer ive seen all year, which is saying something considering I watch every single Shanahan game.

Rangers are putting a lot of pressure on the Thrashers defenders to make the right breakout play, three times it has cost the Thrashers a goal.

-Inferno

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